Worrying
by Cheeseburger of Doom
Summary: He can't sleep, because he worries.


A/N: Sort of based on a fic I wrote a while back, in which Sanada and Kaido met at the hospital. Written for a community on LJ. There will probably be many more SanaKai fics from me in the near future.

Every time he closed his eyes, he heard his mother's voice, "Hazue is in the hospital." He remembered the painful feeling of his heart dropping lightning-quick into his stomach, and the floor dropping out from under him. Every time he closed his eyes, he felt like he was going to vomit.

It made sleeping very difficult.

It had been three weeks since Hazue had been in that accident; three weeks since Hazue had fallen into a sleep that might never end. Kaido had heard about people being in a coma before, but he'd never realized that it was the ones who remained awake and waiting that had the worst of it. He felt so helpless when he watched Hazue in that sleep, and he could barely stand it. The past week had been one long nightmare, and he just wanted to wake up.

The only night that he'd really slept was that night at the hospital during the storm, when his parents had been unable to pick him up and Sanada had taken him home. Since then they'd seen more of each other, simply because they had something in common; the helpless feeling of watching someone else suffer. Kaido felt calmer, somehow, when he was with Sanada; he found himself longing for Sanada's arms around him, as they had been that night at his house, when they'd shared his bed. It seemed like an odd thing to wish for then again, comfort wasn't such an odd thing, was it?

At this point, Kaido would have done anything for a few hours of sleep, uninterrupted by worries and "what ifs". The doctor had said this morning that it was beginning to seem doubtful that Hazue would ever wake up. He said that he just wanted to prepare his family for what might be inevitable, but it had made Kaido feel all that much worse.

He knew it was late, and that he shouldn't bother Sanada, but he couldn't help it. He picked up the phone and dialed the number, hoping that he wouldn't bother Sanada's parents in the process. Thankfully, it was Sanada's voice that answered him.

Kaido couldn't respond immediately. The silence hung in the air, and Kaido wondered what on Earth he was doing anyway, calling him in the middle of the night.

"Is this a prank call?" Sanada sounded irritated, not to mention half-asleep.

"I'm sorry," Kaido said, guilt finally urging him to speak. "I didn't know what else to do."

"Kaido?"

"I can't sleep," Kaido said. "I shouldn't have woken you up, but I can't sleep."

"What's wrong?"

"The doctor said that Hazue might never wake up."

"I'm sorry." Sanada was never very good with words, and his message of condolence sounded awkward, but it was there just the same. It made Kaido feel a little bit better to know that someone understood him, and that someone was there to listen to him. He'd never met Sanada before that night at the hospital, but he already felt that Sanada was the one who knew him the best.

"I'm sorry for disturbing your sleep." Kaido knew that he should hang up the phone now, but he didn't want to. He wanted to listen to Sanada breathe all night; it was a lullaby that might even put him to sleep.

"Don't apologize," Sanada said. "Do you think you can sleep now?"

"I think so." Kaido didn't want Sanada to worry over him, after all, even if that was somewhat of a lie. He didn't think that he was going to be able to sleep ever again.

"If not, call me again," Sanada said. Sanada knew about nightmares, and worries that plagued the mind until it couldn't think about anything else. Yukimura was someone special to him that had a sickness that Sanada couldn't cure Sanada knew about helplessness.

"Come and stay here tomorrow night," Sanada said. In that offer, there was a promise of what Kaido had been longing for; an arm around his shoulders, a feeling of comfort, and a warm place to relax.

"I will," Kaido said. "Thank you."

"Good night, Kaido." Sanada's voice was always rough, but in it there was something so gentle that it was almost like a good night kiss pressed against his temple. Kaido closed his eyes for a moment, and imagined Sanada giving him that kiss, and he felt warmed by it.

"Good night."

Kaido slept a little better that night, and knew that he would sleep even better the next. Having that to look forward to comforted him very much.


End file.
